The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Brothers-In-Law: A Tale Of The
Equatorial Islands; and The Brass Gun Of The Buccaneers, by Louis Becke

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: The Brothers-In-Law: A Tale Of The Equatorial Islands; and The Brass Gun Of The Buccaneers
1901

Author: Louis Becke

Release Date: April 12, 2008 [EBook #25056]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BROTHERS-IN-LAW ***

Produced by David Widger

THE BROTHERS-IN-LAW: A TALE OF THE EQUATORIAL ISLANDS, and THE BRASS GUN OF THE BUCCANEERS

From "The Tapu Of Banderah and Other Stories"

By Louis Becke

C. Arthur Pearson Ltd.

1901

THE BROTHERS-IN-LAW: A TALE OF THE EQUATORIAL ISLANDS

"There," said Tavita the teacher, pointing with his paddle to a long,
narrow peninsula which stretched out into the shallow waters of the
lagoon, "there, that is the place where the battle was fought. In those
days a village of thirty houses or more stood there; now no one liveth
there, and only sometimes do the people come here to gather cocoanuts."

The White Man nodded. "'Tis a fair place to look upon. Let us land and
rest awhile, for the sun is hot."

The native pastor swung the bow of the canoe round towards the shore,
and presently the little craft glided gently upon the hard, white sand,
and the two men got out, walked up to the grove of cocoa-palms, and sat
down under their shade to rest and smoke until the sun lost some of its
fierce intensity and they could proceed on their journey homeward to the
principal village.

The White Man was the one trader living in Peru,{*} the native was a
Samoan, and one of the oldest and bravest missionaries in the Pacific.
For twenty years he had dwelt among the wild, intractable, and savage
people of Peru--twenty years of almost daily peril, for in those days
the warlike people of the Gilbert Group resented the coming of the few
native teachers scattered throughout the archipelago, and only Tavita's
undaunted courage and genial disposition had preserved the lives of
himself and his family. Such influence as he now possessed was due, not
to his persistent attempts to preach Christianity, but to his reputa